In prior years, this blog has looked at customs surrounding nineteenth-century holidays and shared a unique, French-Canadian take on A Christmas Carol. Following Prosper Bender and Honoré Beaugrand, our guide this year is again a prominent French-Canadian writer—one roughly of the same generation. In Christmas in French Canada, Louis Fréchette penned short stories in English—without […]
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French Canadians 100 Years Ago: May to August
Franco-Americans—and a larger community of French Canadians—were visible in 1921. This is the second part of a year-long tour of major stories concerning Quebec and its diaspora. See the first installment here. May All eyes turn to Manchester, New Hampshire, for a series of high-profile events. On May 11, Catholic residents celebrate the fiftieth anniversary […]
Continue readingA French-Canadian Journey: Bellechasse to Sweetsburg
Like thousands of other families, economic and demographic pressures carried them away from the ancestral heart of French Canada and into the breadbasket of the Richelieu and Yamaska rivers, into the “foreign” Eastern Townships, and into the fields and factories of the Great Republic. The descendants of Jean Lacroix and Marie Anne Fradet—both of them […]
Continue readingThe Great Grammar Brawl of ’77
They are a people with no history, and no literature. With those words, among the most quoted of his infamous report, Lord Durham hit a sore spot. But, as certain well-placed families in Lower Canada acquired capital in the 1840s and 1850s, they secured not only the political influence of French Canadians but their cultural […]
Continue readingQuebec’s Emigration Debates: 7 Takeaways
As some of you know, in the last few months, I have compiled all debates of the Quebec legislature that addressed (or mentioned) emigration and repatriation between 1867 and 1900. In making these debates more accessible, I hope they will draw the attention and interest of other researchers, thus bringing more voices into the historical […]
Continue readingShowdown in Chicago: Forming Franco-America
See Part I here. The Convention nationale des Canadiens français des Etats-Unis opened in Chicago on August 22, 1893. The event drew hundreds of delegates—though the attractions of the Columbian Exposition likely had something to do with their interest in attending. Exemplifying the incredible breadth of the French-Canadian diaspora, these delegates came from Langdon, North […]
Continue readingShowdown in Chicago: The Summer of ’93
In the summer of 1893, all roads led to Chicago. The Great Republic was celebrating itself—or at least its white, colonialist incarnation—and the whole world was invited. The Columbian Exposition was to recognize four centuries of European settlement and achievement in the Americas and the United States’ own social and technological progress. All was not […]
Continue readingThe Day Repatriation Died
It was half past three on July 5, 1888—well, shortly after half past three, some members of Quebec’s lower house being perennially slow to take their seats. Speaker Marchand turned to the honorable member for the riding of Bellechasse, on his left. Faucher de Saint-Maurice had the floor. So did, vicariously, the Franco-American community. Faucher […]
Continue readingQuebec’s Emigration Debates (1867-1880): New Resource
Not a week goes by that we do not find new and interesting articles, videos, and conversations about Franco-American history and culture. Lately, at Moderne Francos, Melody Desjardins draws attention to traditions old and new that might help spark a cultural renaissance. Over at My French-Canadian Family, Tim Beaulieu has the story of actor Christopher […]
Continue readingA Political History of Franco-Americans: The Book
As many of you know, my first academic book, John F. Kennedy and the Politics of Faith, is now available from the University Press of Kansas. I am touched by the expressions of interest and support I’ve received in the last few weeks. As readers might suspect, the book is drawing attention due to its […]
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